His reputation as a moralist and scourge of folly has obscured his intensely sympathetic treatment of women. We begin in Hell, with this 8-minute video.
On the right panel, there is little doubt that the lady with the candle and jug is a prostitute.
In this corner scene of the Afterlife are people and objects that relate to the Bad Inn. Like the backgammon, dice and card games. The turned over table comes first of all from a bar brawl.
IMO Bosch liked to help the viewer with hints. The giant die on the lady’s head may mean that her love is false. The die eyes are “wrong”. Already in Bosch’s time the eyes were generally 1:6,2:5, 3:4 opposing. The pierced heart is another hint, although it also relates to Christ.
Intriguing is the purse of the hare next to the lady. It may be used for small animal parts (food for the hunting dogs), but I prefer to see it just as a purse. And then it is possibly a viewing aid for the spectators, a hint to the profession of the girl.
(An even deeper meaning could be that it is Judas’s money bag. The victim of the hare has a spouting wound…)
A nice treatment of Bosch’s women, thank you.
On the right panel, there is little doubt that the lady with the candle and jug is a prostitute.
In this corner scene of the Afterlife are people and objects that relate to the Bad Inn. Like the backgammon, dice and card games. The turned over table comes first of all from a bar brawl.
IMO Bosch liked to help the viewer with hints. The giant die on the lady’s head may mean that her love is false. The die eyes are “wrong”. Already in Bosch’s time the eyes were generally 1:6,2:5, 3:4 opposing. The pierced heart is another hint, although it also relates to Christ.
Intriguing is the purse of the hare next to the lady. It may be used for small animal parts (food for the hunting dogs), but I prefer to see it just as a purse. And then it is possibly a viewing aid for the spectators, a hint to the profession of the girl.
(An even deeper meaning could be that it is Judas’s money bag. The victim of the hare has a spouting wound…)